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The '70s was also a decade of iconic films such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, cult shark movie Jaws, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Quadrophenia, the original Star Wars, Alien, Rocky, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, Carrie, Enter the Dragon, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and many more.
Seeing George Lucas's sprawling space movie, Star Wars, in a cinema for the first time in 1977 was unlike anything most people had ever experienced before! It's something teens from the '70s will always remember and relate to in every little detail.
Swedish pop stars ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with the iconic Waterloo, making them global celebrities overnight. Many little girls wanted to be Agnetha Faltskog, with her flowing blonde hair and glamorous, sparkly outfits.
Growing up in the '70s
Kids growing up in the 70s, before the dawn of realistic video games, the Internet and social media, found entertainment in many ways. Questionable fashion choices, such as massive, flared trousers, platform shoes, cheesecloth tops, leg warmers, Simon shirts and jeans so tight you had to roll on the floor to zip them up are just a few memories!
It's not strictly true to say gaming consoles weren't invented - but the one contender was so primitive compared with today's consoles it looks like an antique. Released by Atari in 1972, the two-dimensional video game Pong was revolutionary in its day - it kept kids entertained for hours!
Kids grew up with Sesame Street, danced to Village People's YMCA at the school disco, watched Charlie's Angels and Starsky and Hutch, bruised their wrists playing with "clackers" in the school playground, roller-skated and read comics and annuals.
Anyone who grew up in the '70s will probably remember it as the best time of their lives! Despite not having the tech trappings of modern society, people will always remember the good fun they had.
Take a trip back to the '70s with our handy guide to the memorabilia that might be worth a small fortune in 2022...
Typewriters
Before computers were the staple of every office and home, typewriters were widely used by businesses and consumers. Some people kept them even when computers became prevalent. If you have a '70s typewriter stored in the attic, it could be time to see what it's worth. If it has been stored properly and well looked after, there's a good chance it will still work, so it will be worth more.
A well-known manufacturer, Smith Corona was famous for its range of manual and next-generation electric typewriters in their own carrycase. If you have a mint condition Smith Corona GT Ghia typewriter in teal blue (described as the Lamborghini of typewriters), you could be sitting on around £220.
Another popular '70s brand, Adler produced many different typewriters. While some models were mass-produced, rarer models, such as the 1970s Adler Gabriele 25 manual portable typewriter, can fetch around £150 today.
Comics
The 1970s was a great decade for comics, particularly when Marvel released a Star Wars comic book within weeks of the movie's premiere in 1977. A rare copy in good condition sold for £4,650 at auction recently.
This was because Marvel experimented with a price rise at this time. A batch of the US Star Wars comics was priced at 35 cents, rather than the usual 30 cents. Only 1,500 copies feature the higher price printed on the cover and this batch is worth much more than the regular 30 cents copies.
Comics are quite difficult to store and if you have any that have been kept in damp conditions, the pages may have gone yellow or mildewed. This will render them virtually worthless. Comics need to be stored in airtight boxes to keep them in pristine condition.
Toys and action figures
Action figures from the 1970s are extremely collectable, especially if unopened in their original box. Today's kids may have no idea who Lynda Carter is, but she was famous in the '70s for playing the super-hero Wonder Woman. If you have a Wonder Woman action figure from 1976, unopened in its box, it can fetch more than £800 at auction.
The extremely rare Luke Skywalker action figure, still in its original, unopened, Kenner packaging, complete with the double-telescoping lightsabre, sold for a massive £20,000 at Sotheby's in 2015. Other old Star Wars toys are also highly collectable and could be worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
Many kids will remember Stretch Armstrong toys - the stretchy boy wearing shorts who did just what his name implied: stretched to crazy proportions! He is worth around £320 today at auction. In 1978, the manufacturer Kenner Toys released the much rarer and rather creepy Stretchy Serpent. One sold for £4,900 at auction, so you've hit the jackpot if you have one tucked away somewhere.
Vinyl records
While many vintage vinyl records can be worth a few hundred pounds today, a few stand out after selling for thousands at auction. Punk band the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen single, released by A&M Records in 1977, sells for around £13,000 today. Only 25,000 copies were released. Amazingly, only nine copies have been sold over the years, so some of you out there have been holding on to a small fortune, probably without even knowing it!
David Bowie's Diamond Dogs album from 1974, with the original cover that was pulled just before it was released by RCA, is also worth thousands. The cover featured a cartoon-style dog, the top half being Bowie and the bottom half a dog. However, record executives decided the cover must be airbrushed, as they felt the "naked" dog on a man's body would cause offence!
Some employees grabbed the original covers before they were scrapped. In 2003, a copy of Diamond Dogs with the original cover sold for £2,900.
Records should be stored in airtight storage boxes to keep them free from moisture, dust and dirt to keep them in the best playable condition.
Technology
Modern technology was in its infancy in the '70s. It was the decade of the first Sony Walkman, a portable music system released in 1979. The TPS-L2 Walkman cassette player revolutionised the market, as it wasn't much larger than a cassette tape. It had headphones and played tapes with Hi-Fi stereo sound. Everyone wanted a Walkman. Today, they can be found on online auction sites for up to £2,450.
Digital wristwatches were also launched in the '70s. The first Light Emitting Diode digital watch was released in 1970, changing the way we told the time. Hamilton Watch Company created the innovative gold Pulsar with a red LED display. James Bond 007 famously wore one in the iconic spy thriller, Live and Let Die. If you have one of the 1970s Pulsar watches in your collection, it is valued today at around £1,000. To get a good price, the watch must be in working order and cosmetically undamaged.
If you're storing valuables such as watches, it's best to keep them in a waterproof case. If moisture gets into the mechanism, it will seize up- this will obviously have a drastic effect on its value.
If the '70s was your decade, why not take a look in your attic, shed or seldom-used cupboards? You never know, you might just stumble across some hidden treasures!